That smell

[Jeffrey Aley]

(With apologies to Lynyrd Skynyrd).
"Ooooh that smell
Can't you smell that smell?"

What do you guys do to get rid of that "burnt" smell on MDF? I made a spice rack, but it has that characteristic odor. In the garage it's not a problem, but for the kitchen (inside of a cabinet) it is. Should I wipe w/ 91% isoproypl alcohol, or something else? I know I don't want the MDF to get too wet.

Thanks,

-Jeff

[Tim Mellor]

I haven't done MDF on the Laser but I have a Router Template I was going to do in the next day or two so I will have a play too.

For Ply I have been using a more pure 99% IPA (electronics PCB cleaning) which you can get if you look around some IPA's are only 70% for the reference of others. This gets rid of some of the pong and loose carbon. Then a wipe over with Orange Oil masks the remaining smell fairly well.

Extra Steps that might help.

Depending on the job careful 220 grit sanding as a middle step would make sense and should strip back the carbon without taking to much of the MDF with it. It works well on the Ply nearly removing all smell but for living hinge and fine detail work this obviously won't work.

Also look around for low or zero formaldehyde MDF as some of the pong will possibly be this vaporized and re deposited.

[Tim Mellor]

Finally found some time to run the Templates from MDF I wanted. Apart from 40W being underdone/focus issues with the 6mm it cut and engraved nicely when I raised the table a touch.

On to the question at hand the pong. I tried 99% IPA (isopropyl alcohol), Xylene and Acetone as I had all three on hand. The Xylene and Acetone noticeably cleaned more carbon from the cut lines so it would be reasonable to assume less smell when dry.

I will give them a smell test tomorrow and a reclean with the same solvents on each test section and see how much more carbon I can get.

Casual thoughts are Acetone with the lower flash point dries quicker so maybe less likely to cause smudging

I still think maybe a wipe with solvent and sanding is the answer.

[Tim Mellor]

The day after. Not a definitive list or test but Acetone is the winner.

Xylene is a bit of a bust as there is now a lingering chemical pong with a hint of burnt. The Xylene (used in chemical permenant markers among other uses) will eventually evaporate there is currently a trace of a line on the mdf face that I wiped around.

IPA no chemical pong and a much reduced burnt smell. Recleaned and still took some Burnt material off the edge.

Acetone no chemical smell and the least burnt smell. Recleaned and still some Burnt smears on the cloth.

[Gene Uselman]

pong (plural pongs) (Britain, Australia, New Zealand, slang) A stench, a bad smell.

[Mike Henry]

You can get 99% IPA from Amazon for as little as $18/gal if you are willing to buy 1-1/2 gallons and that appears to include free shipping, at least in the US.

[Tim Mellor]

I was buying some Denatured Alcohol (Methalated Spirits to us Aussies to save the translation ) today at our local Big Harware chain and they are now carrying pure IPA at last instead of the 70% rubbish. It is still cheaper in Oz to buy it online as a Beauty/Art product along with Acetone for nails by the Litre.

Also picked up some pure Beeswax from a local keeper so I will put up a thread on alternate Wood Treatments and concoctions / chemistry for

The Xylene still has a hint of Pong btw